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This Is Not My BlogMay 17, 2007The Commitment Ceremony was very nice — held at a local park in the late summer. The program was designed by Tina with all of the artwork being hers. She and Sandra had picked out some very appropriate poetry to be read by various friends and it was beautiful. Both of them were activists and yesterday I re-read, with great interest, a statement that they had made in the program. [link]

New York TimesMay 15, 2007Connecticut's highest court became the first in the nation to hear arguments over whether the establishment of civil unions created a fundamentally inferior status for gays and lesbians. (Link)

Today's THVMay 14, 2007Gay couples can register with Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and receive a certificate acknowledging their relationships. However, it's not a legal document and does not bestow any of the rights and responsibilities of marriage on the partnerships. [Link]

Leonard LinkMay 14, 2007Handicapping the outcome? This is a difficult one. What can be said is that the marriage equality advocates in this case gave it their best shot, that Klein lived up to his excellent reputation as the winner of the first AIDS discrimination case decided by the US Supreme Court, and that if the battle is lost in the short term in this case, it will not be for lack of the best possible representation. [Link]

New London Day (Reprinted by Love Makes A Family) May 13, 2007When 4-year-old Kailey wanted to see a picture of the "pretty dress" her mother wore when she got married, Eileen Ego and Corrine Frost knew it was time to have a talk with their daughter. Kailey's two moms, who have been together for 15 years, worried about explaining to their daughter why her parents are not married. [Link]

New Hampshire Business ReviewMay 11, 2007Although ERISA preempts state laws that relate to benefits, laws relating to insurance are not preempted. As a result, it is expected that the New Hampshire Insurance Department will rule that if an employer offers medical insurance coverage for married employees, the civil union law requires the employer to offer similar coverage to those in a civil union. But employers that provide self-insured medical, dental and other benefits to employees are not subject to the same state insurance laws because ERISA does cover them. Therefore, they will not be obligated to provide the same coverage to employees in civil unions as they do to married employees — although they could do so on a voluntary basis. [link]

Daily KosMay 9, 2007Hooray! It ain't marriage and it ain't portable, but if you're gay and one of you lives in Oregon, now at least you can get most of the same STATE rights and benefits as married couples routinely do...and that's a great thing. A long time coming, and another reminder that ELECTIONS MATTER. These bills died in 2005 despite a Dem-led Senate and Governor's mansion; the House was still led by the GOP. In 2006 control flipped and—like magic, NOT!—now suddenly they are law. [link]

Minnesota Public RadioMay 8, 2007Richard Mohr, a professor of philosophy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and author of a number of books on gay rights, most recently, "The Long Arc of Justice: Lesbian and Gay Marriage, Equality and Rights," squared off with Dwight Duncan, a professor at Southern New England School of Law in Massachusetts, who got his degree at the Vatican. Mohr does a great job of articulating what marriage is really about. Broadcast: Midday, 05/08/2007, 12:00 p.m [link]

Concord MonitorMay 6, 2007In the seven years since Vermont became the first state to create civil unions, couples have uncovered countless ways in which their unions differ from non-gay marriage. Because the federal government doesn't acknowledge civil unions, same-sex couples miss out on the federal benefits afforded non-gay married couples. And because many states have conflicting laws, a couple's rights can evaporate when they cross the state line. [link]